Brick and tile machine



Apr. 3, 1923. 1,450,506

R. H. M ELROY ET AL BRICK AND TILE MACHINE Filed Aug. 16, 1921 6 sheets-sheet l gwueydoz m zw m 61110: new

Apr. 3 1923. 1,45%,506

- R. H. MCELROY ET AL BRICK AND TILE MACHINE Flled Aug 16, 1921 6 sheets-sheet 2 gm wanton attuned Apr, 3, 1923. 1,450,506

R. H. M ELROY ET AL BRICK AND TILE MACHINE Filed Aug. 16, 1 9 1 6 sheets-sheet 3 Apr. 3, 1923. 1,450,506

R. H. MCELROY ET AL BRICK AND TILE MACHINE Filed Aug. 16, 1921 6 sheets-sheet 4 ApnS, 1923.

' R. H. MCELROY ET AL BRICK AND TILE MACHINE Filed Aug. 16, 1921 6 sheets-sheet 5 [Z7 bl- 7 v @160 5/ 50 a 26 22 '37\ JL JL i 23 rel Apr. '3, 1923.

R. H, M ELROY ET AL BRICK AND TILE MACHINE Filed Aug. 16 1921 6 sheets-sheet 6 UNITED STATES 1,450,506 PATENT OFFICE.

ROY H. MCELROY, JOSEPH D. CITE, AND ALBERT G. LANGENKAMIP, OF DAYTON, OHIO, 'ASSIGNORS TO ROY H. MCELROY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, RECEIVER FOR THE BAHMANN IRON WORKS CO., OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

BRICK AND TILE MACHINE.

T all whom it may 00ncern:

Be it known that we, ROY H. lWIoELRoY, JosnPH D. CITE, and ALBERT G. LANGEN- KAMP, citizens of the United States, residing 5 at Dayton, in the county of' Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brick and Tile Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

The object of our invention is to provide abrick and tile machine for production in given shapes and sizes of plastic material for the conversion into brick, hollow-ware,

tile or other ceramic products.

The object of our invention is to provide a machine of great strength upon a foundation which will insure the perfect alinement of all of the bearings.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a machine that will have the minimum of gears in its operation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an anger machine that will have a double bearing capacity and which will provide bearings which may be used alternately to receive the thrust on the anger or which may be used together to permit of the strains to be taken up by either hearing if desired in case one becomes overheated.

It is our object to provide a simple and positive feed to the auger and an anger which will receive this positive feed of plastic ceramic material and deliver it at a predetermined speed,-a predetermined quantity and in a predetermined form as desired.

It is an object of our invention to provide a machine which will require the minimum horse power for its operation and which will be out of operation for repairs for the minimum time.

To secure this last mentioned object, we also provide a new form of liner, renewable in sect-ions, which permits of a ready means for renewing those portions of the machine which are most liable to be worn out.

It is also an object of our invention to provide a liner which may be adjusted to fit the anger as it wears and to provide these liners in sections so that the worn linersmay be renewed or by the removal of some of the liners the remaining liners may be brought closer to the auger.

Application filed August 16, 1921. Serial No. 492,671.

In particular, it is our object to provide a strong and rigid foundation for this machine with an outboard bearing cast to the frame and integral with it, insuring absolute alinement.

It is also our object to provide a method of manufacture of a casting of this character for this purpose by having a single machine tool which will finish the bearings on this casting at one operation thus insuring perfect alinement of the bearings.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is aside elevation of the complete machine;

F ig. 2 is a plan view of the complete machine, with the gear casing removed;

Fig. 3 is a plan view ofthe casting with the mechanism removed;

Fig. 4: is a section through the casting on the line 3-8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 3;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 3 -3 of Figure 3;

Fig. 7 is a detail showing the auger and liner construction in section; I

Fig. 8 is a transverse section on the line 77 of Fig. 7;

Fig. '9 is a section of the end I thrust bearing;

Fig. 10 is a perspective of the inside of one of the removable fillers showing the corrugations on the interior thereof.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 1

designates generally a single casting con-,

stituting the entire supporting base for the entire machine. The purpose of having a single casting is to provide absolute alinement of all of the parts upon which great strains are based in a machine of this character. The reduction of vibration,. the labor and care in re-aligning shafts and the wear upon bearings is a material advantage.

This casting 1 consists of the following portions mounted upon the base 1:-The auger portion 2. the central portion 3, and the outboard casting 4.

There will be observed in Figs. 3-, 4:, 5, 6 and 8 that there are various ribs provided to strengthenthis one-piece casting so that it will be free of cooling strains in the metal.

It will be noted inFig. 3 that there is a longitudinal rib 5, and a transverse rib 6.

There is also a series of ribs '7, 8, 9, 10, running around the margin of the central por tion 3.

The remainder of the casting is strengthened by longitudinal ribs 11 and transverse ribs 12.

It will be noted in Fig. that there is a long, sloping member constituting a brace designated 13 which joins one wall let to the other wall 15 of the tentral portion 3. This furnishes adequate provision for accommodating any of the driving strains transversely of the casting.

Superimposed upon this base casting is the following mechanism :A main drive shaft 16 journaled at one end in the outboard castlng at, at 17 and at 18 in themiddle portion of the casting 3. A pinion 19 is mounted on this shaft and turns with it,

driving a large gear 20. This large gear is mounted on the auger shaft 21. The auger shaft 21 is journaled at 22 in a floating thrust bearing. The shaft is journaled at 23 in a marine thrust bearing. Either one of these bearings is capable of taking the total thrust of the machine in case one of the bearings should grow warm through the lack of lubrication.

Driven by gears 24 and 25 is a stub shaft 26 upon which is mounted four feed wings 27 for feeding the plastic ceramic material to the auger. This stub shaft is journaled at 28, 29 and 30." The auger proper is composed of a central member 31 and a worm or wings 32. This auger terminates in a taper as at 33 and the wings or worm proper terminate in a taper as at 34: becoming progressively smaller until the opening 35 is reached out of which the exit is made of the ceramic material that has been forced down into the auger by the forced feed wings 27. Vithin the auger chamber 36 there is contained a series of removable liners or sec tions of a liner designated successively. 37, 38. 39, 40 11, 12. 43'and4l4i. These sections become progressively smaller as they near the opening 'They are spaced from the auger wings a predetermined distance in order that the ceramic material may be forced to the left hand and out of the machine and not merely churned in the machine and possibly returned some dis tance to the right hand.

It will be noted that ribs are provided as an integral portion of each one of these liners-as acombined reinforcement and support in the housing 2 and the cap plate 51 mounted-on .2. If these liners become worn they can be readily detached and new ones put in their place. If the wings of the a uger iecome worn so that the space between the wings and the liners become too great. then one or more sect-ions of the liners can be removed; as for instance. section 40 and the '7 remainder of the sections moved to the right hand to bring their surfaces closer to the worn wings and the new section at can be installed to take the place of the old A which has been moved forward one step to the right. This removes the necessity for installing a new worm and effects a repair which may be quickly and expeditiously made. At 37 the liner 3? is cut away to form an entrance opening beneath 59 for the plastic material. 38 is also cut away in a similar manner.

Between the auger and the marine thrust bearing 23 is a spacing sl eve The marine thrust sleeve is supported in the casting 5 as isthe thrust slee 53 traveling in the bearing which is provided of the usual Babbitt metal or other bearing link.

It will be observed in Fig. 8 that the liners have a pair of lips 54: en aging a rib of the main base casting to prevent the shifting of the liner.

Abutting against the end of the auger shaft 21 is a cap 61 with apertures 62 cut therein for the insertion therein of pins 63 which form the driving connection between the cap (ll and the shaft 21. The outer face of this cap is concave as at 64. An intermediate member 65 of preferably non-ferrous material has a convex surface 66 coinciding with the concave surface 64 of the cap 61, preferably of ferrous material. The dotted line 67" indicates an oil passage way in the flat surface 67 of 65. An intermediate ferrous plate 68 is interposed between 65 and a screw plug 69 which is adapted to squeeze the several parts to one another or relieve the pressure.

It is immaterial whether this screw plug is used or a cross head 70 on pins 71 and 7 2 is used. 70 is positioned on 71 and 72 by the nuts 73 73.

The purpose of this adjusting mechanism is to take the thrust off of the marine bearing and put it on this thrust bearing when the marine bearing must be relieved for various causes. When it is desired to use the marine bearing. then the thrust bearing can be loosened. 'F-l is the housing in which the thrust bearing is located.

Referring to 10, 76 is a rib and 77 a cut away portion on the interior of a filler. These ribs and cutaway portions alternate to keep the clay from slipping.

Method of operation.

The application by power to the main driving pulley is controlled through the hand lever 56. its connecting rod 57 and the clutch mechanism 58 which may be of any desired kind.

The power is delivered through the shaft 16, gear 19. gear 20. the auger shaft 21 and thence to the auger 31. The" power is delivered from shaft 21 through gear 2i to gear 25 thence to shaft 26 to the wings 27. The plastic ceramic material is delivered through the opening 59 of the hopper 60 and is impelled into engagement with the auger by the wings 27 of the force feed mechanism. The ceramic material is then forced out of the opening 35 by the auger into a bar or rod of desired configuration to be cut into brick or made into hollow-ware or tile or other ceramic products that ma y be desired.

In manufacturing this base casting upon which the success of this machine is largely founded, the entire castin is mounted upon a 19-foot planer and all or the bearings are alined and located on this one machine tool with one set-up with one operation to insure perfect alinement of all of the hearings on the single integral casting. As far as we are aware, this is the first time that this has been accomplished in a machine of this character and that the combination of sucha base casting in such a machine produces new results in freedom from wear, freedom from vibra tion, constancy of output and the minimum horse power necessary for the operation of the machine.

W'e find in practical operation that this machine has ,a: normal capacity of about 10,000standard building brick per hour and that it has a normal capacity of about 150 tons of material to be used for hollow-ware and drain tile or similar ceramic products.

The combination of a floating thrust bearing and a marine thrust bearing brings forth many advantages in operation.

While we have shown and described certain features as constituting our invention, it will be understood that parts have been shown for purposes of illustration only, and that we do not desire to be limited to such details, as obvious modifications will occur to persons skilled in the art.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a machine for extruding plastic material, a'base casting consisting of a base member, an extruding casting member, a gear and'shafting supporting members, and anoutboard casting member all of said members integral with one another in a single casting, and reinforcing means consisting of dividing walls cast integral with said several members and the base member for maintaining the several parts together as a unit and reinforcing them,

. and an auger working in said extruding cast- 2. In a machine for extruding plastic material, a main'base casting, a plurality of upwardly projecting supporting castings consisting of a base for an extrusion chamber. supporting castings for driving shafts and bearings and an outboard casting to support driving and clutch mechanism, an auger dr ve shaft iournaled in said castings. an auger mounted on one end thereof, a hopper and top casting to complete the extrusion chamber adjacent the auger, said auger op erating in the extrusion chamber so formed, a gear mounted on said auger drive shaft, and driving mechanism connected therewith mounted on said castings for actuating said drive gear, a marine thrust bearing for said auger drive shaft, an end thrust bearing on said auger drive shaft, and means whereby said bearings may be alternately brought into play.

In a machine for extruding plastic material, an auger shaft, an auger thereon, means for supporting said auger and a chamber in which said auger operates, -a marine thrust bearing to support said auger shaft at one point, an end thrust bearing to support said shaft at another point and means for alternately bringing into play said bearings by one point adjustment.

4. In a machine for extruding plastic material, a main base, casting, an extrusion chamber mounted thereon, a plurality of detachable removable liners mounted there in, the interior, configuration of which is designed to conform to the contour of an anger working therein, an auger, said detachable sections having their exterior contour conforming to the contour of the extrusion chamber casting.

5. In a machine for extruding plastic material, a main base casting, an extrusion chamber mounted thereon, a plurality of detachable removable liners mounted therein, the interior configuration of which is designed to conform to the contour of an auger working therein, an auger, said de-.

tachable sections having their exterior contour conforming to the contour of'the extrusion chamber casting, a hopper forming a part of said casting, and a portion of said detachable liner members being cut away to communicate with said hopper.

6. In a machine for extruding plastic material. a main base casting, an extrusion chamber mounted thereon, a plurality of detachable removable liners mounted therein, the interior configuration of which is designed to conform to the contour of an auger working therein, an auger, said detach-able sections having their exterior ,contour conforming to the contour of the extrusion chaniber casting, a hopper forming a part of said casting. a portion of said detachable liner members being cut away to communicate with said hopper, a force feed mechanism traveling parallel to and adjacent to the auger in said hopper to draw the material through the hopper into the path of the auger, and means on said auger shaft to support it consisting of a marine thrust bearing and end thrust bearing adapted to be alternately brought into play by one point adjustment.

7. In a machine for extruding plastic material, an extrusion base casting, an extrusion chamber cover casting, a plurality of liners mounted adjacent to one another in said casting, reinforcing members on said liners ribbed at right angles to the flow of the plastic material, and external circumferential ribs thereon.

S. In a machine for extruding plastic material, an extrusion base z-astiug, an entrusion chamber cover casting, a plurality of liners mounted adjacent to one another in said casting, reinforcing members on said liners ribbed at right angles to the flow of the plastic material, ext el circumferential ribs thereon, said remiorc'ng members having a diameter equal to the iteii 1' diameter of the extrusion chamber castings, and an internal diameter conformin to the contour of an auger working in said cham-- ber within said liners.

9. In a machine for extruding plastic material, an auger shaft, a marine bearing therefor, a thrust bearing therefor consisting of a cap member on the end of the shaft and turning therewith, said cap memher having its outer face concave, an intermediate inember cooperating therewith, with one or both faces convex, a fiat or concave member or Washer and an adjusting member to place compression on the separable parts to bring the thrust bearing into play and to render the marine bearing in operative.

10. In a machine for extruding plastic material, a single integral casting having a portion for supporting the auger and liners, such portion being coextensive with the length of liners and auger, other portions for supporting a marine thrust bearing for the auger shaft, and portion for supporting mechanism to drive the auger.

11. In a machine for extruding plastic material, a continuous base casting consisting of an extruding casting member coextensive with the length of the auger, a casting member for. supporting a marine thrust bearing on the auger shaft, and a portion adjacent thereto for supporting the driving shaft connected with said auger shaft.

In testimony whereof, We afiix our signatures.

ROY I-I. MOELROY. JOSEPH D. CITE. ALBERT G. LANGENKAll IP. 

